Bailey Armstrong is from Portland, Oregon, in the United States. She is a Junior Sophister student studying History and Political Science. She likes baking, hiking and embroidery and works part-time at Vintage Tea Trips. She is also the new (and former) Chair of The Electoral Commission (EC) of the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU/AMLCT). Armstrong was re-elected at this year’s 8th Comhairle on the 24th of March.
The EC is described on the TCDSU/AMLCT website as the organisation which “supports the Chair of Council [or] Comhairle in the running of Comhairle, in providing interpretations of the Union Constitution and in the running of all of the Union’s Elections. The EC consists of the chair (Chair of Comhairle), the secretary (Education Officer), two biennial members and four annual members. These positions (except for the secretary, which is ex officio) are elected at the last Comhairle of the year”.
The University Times sat down with Armstrong to discuss her role.
Armstrong said, “Our first responsibility is to run all elections”. Armstrong is involved in “writing campaign rules” and “chair[ing] the council”. She added, the goal of The EC is to “try to provide clarity”.
Armstrong talked about the long list of tasks that need to be done for Comhairle to be a success, including setting up microphones, Zoom meetings, software, and writing impersonal summaries on motions.
The University Times shifted to ask Armstrong about the previous term. Armstrong said, “My term actually started quite unconventionally”. She added, “I took up the term before the whole effigy situation of last year”. In April of 2025, the then-President and Welfare Officer organised a controversial campaign for sexual assault awareness month, which was met with a petition from class representatives to call for an extraordinary meeting of Comhairle to carry out the Censure of both officers. Both the petition and Censure votes were successful.
Therefore, for Armstrong, the first Comhairle she chaired was an extraordinary meeting. Armstrong said that, since then, she has overseen a “return to completely online voting” without pre-registration, where she “negotiated a data sharing agreement” alongside the Education Officer. Armstrong described this as “a major success” in increasing voter turnout. Armstrong also said that she has “increased class rep engagement of voting turnout by 66 %” and has “increased sabbatical election turnout by 44%”, as well as breaking the record for voter turnout in both elections. Armstrong said she “made elections a lot more accessible” by implementing accessibility measures and increasing engagement. She also talked about how not meeting quorum at Comhairle used to be a constant problem, but that is no longer the case.
When asked why she ran again, Armstrong said, “I really enjoyed the job” and “professionally, I love elections”. Armstrong said that it was a rewarding opportunity to lead a team which focuses on elections and that, on a personal level, the people who make up the Electoral Commission are a “strong, tight-knit community”. Armstrong also said she had “found quite a bit of joy” leading the EC. She described that a lot of the job “is coming up with solutions to challenges when they hit you, such as the Bye-election”. Adding, “This took up quite a bit of my time last year”, but she “really enjoys this aspect” of the job. The Bye-election occurred in November of 2025 following the resignation of former TCDSU/AMLCT President, Seán Thim, on October 31st of 2025. This triggered a presidential Bye-election, where incumbent president Grace McNally was elected. Armstrong said, “I have really enjoyed this aspect of coming up with solutions”, and “I wish to continue to promote bilingualism…education accessibility [and] building on the work that I have done”. Armstrong also said that the work is not perfect until “we have 100 % voting turnout”.
